


Home for Christmas

by ailurophilee



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Adultery, Alternate Universe, Angst, Christmas Fluff, Established Relationship, Explicit Language, Hannibal is Not a Cannibal, M/M, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-18
Updated: 2014-11-24
Packaged: 2018-02-26 03:07:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2635727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ailurophilee/pseuds/ailurophilee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Their marriage is failing miserably after five years. When Will files for a divorce, Hannibal asks that he spend one last Christmas with the Lecter family before they officially decide to part and give the news to their family members. Mischa finds out and decides to meddle a little…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> So here's the introduction to a fic I currently have written out, and planned nearly all the way towards the finish. I may be a bit slow on updating on a few occasions if I feel I need to go over some of what I already have written, or if I feel that I must take it in another direction. In all honesty I just wanted to write an angst-filled Christmas fic, and the idea kind of spun out of control and I ended up getting far too carried away with it. I just hope it's adequate enough for any readers to hopefully enjoy and like it. Either way, do not fret because there is much more to come, and the chapters do get longer along the way. Please bare with me.

Introduction

“I spend one last Christmas with your sister and Uncle in Montana and after that, I’m gone Hannibal. I mean it, I won’t play these games with you anymore,” Will told his husband very seriously, each word laced with a bitter taste, “Don’t think you’re going to talk me out of it this time. I’m leaving, this time for good.”

Hannibal’s expression does not have a single fault; he merely stares at Will without his famous mask dropping so much as a fraction of an inch, “Of course, William. After the New Year you’re free to go wherever you wish, though we both know very well whose bed you’ll be found crawling into.”

Will swears if he truly, _truly_ wanted to, he’d have jumped across the desk to punch his _beloved_ husband without a single ounce of remorse. He couldn't even stomach looking at Hannibal anymore, the sight of him annoyed him more than three AM phone calls from a shouting and cranky Jack Crawford, “Should have took Alana’s warning before marrying you when I had the chance, ruining lives and marriages is obviously your forte,”

They’d been together long enough for Will to know all the right things that would get right under Hannibal’s perfect little composure, and lately he’s been finding it more and more pleasing as the days passed, “I’ll be with Matthew tonight, so don’t bother waiting up for me, I’ll see you Friday night when we leave for Montana,”

“Very well,” was all the psychiatrist had to say, motioning to his office door. He remained still, his eyes the only thing moving as they followed Will’s frame leave through the door. Once he heard the click of the door closing and he’d been alone, his eyes flickered down to the stack of papers that his _husband_ slapped on his desk merely an hour ago.


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

“He had the nerve to tell me I had to wait until _after_ the New Year. He had the nerve to tell _me_ he wouldn’t sign the fucking papers until after we would come back from Montana. I swear Matt, it’s like he gets off on it,” they were both lying naked under the thin sheet draped over them in their current afterglow, “I swear if he doesn’t keep his word, I don’t know what I’ll do,”

Matthew took a drag from the cigarette held between his thumb and pointer finger, blowing the smoke into the cheap motel room, “We’ll figure it out Will. Hannibal is just as unhappy if not even more _unhappier_ than you are, just let him have his last dose twisted fun and we can finally stop worrying about him,”

“I don’t know why I ever married him in the first place,” Will sighed, turning to wrap and arm around Matt, “He’s so different now than the man I thought I knew…”

Matthew reached over to the night stand to stab his cigarette out into the ashtray and leaned back to Will, leaning to kiss him. Against his lips he murmured, “Let’s stop talking about Dr. Lecter and talk about something more interesting than that old prick,”

Chuckling softly, Will kissed the other man in return, “You know one thing you have over Hannibal?”

“A far superior libido?” he laughed when Will smacked his shoulder playfully, rolling until he was hovering over Matthew, “Okay, but that was a damn good joke and you know it,”

 

 

 

“I hope you’re planning on showering before our flight, you smell like a _mutt_ ,”

Rolling his eyes, Will moved to grab a shirt from the closet of his and Hannibal’s room, “You know me Hannibal, I’m a sucker for stays,”

“You are impossible,” was all Will heard muttered before their bedroom door was clicked shut and the older man was gone from sight and mind. Will snorted and headed to the bathroom to shower off any evidence of the previous night with Matthew, not that he had anything to hide anymore. Hannibal has long since known of his adultery.

After his nearly hour shower, purposefully taking longer than average because he knew how much it would irritate his _husband_ for taking far too long and cutting their time short on getting to the airport, he took his sweet time packing up his bags and leaving them for Hannibal to carry out to the car as he texted Matthew from where he sat in the passenger side of the Bentley.

Their rides together were always silent, usually involving Will texting to keep himself busy and to assure that Hannibal wouldn’t even bother trying to communicate with him. Their time at the airport was just the same, with the exception of a few questions. Their flight to Montana, just as well.

It wasn’t until they were about halfway to the cabin that Hannibal spoke, “It may be best if we try to act like how my family believes us to be, you know how my uncle can be, he notices anything out of the ordinary,”

“You don’t need to worry Hannibal; I won’t let your family know the forbidden truth of our relationship. Your prestigious reputation won’t be ruined on my behalf. We can kiss and even hold hands if that’s what you wish, but when we’re alone; I want you to keep your distance, out of respect for me if you’ve got any left,”

The pause was enough to make Will clench his jaw and avert his eyes to the snowy trees that passed by, Hannibal’s gloved hands kept firm hold on the steering wheel of the rental vehicle they picked up at the airport, “Do you truly believe I do not respect you?”

“If you respected me even a quarter as much as you did when we first met, we wouldn’t be in this situation, now would we?” he wasn’t sure if he meant for it to sound as sour as it did.

“You were the one who began the affair—“

“Don’t you dare pin the blame on me Hannibal Lecter,” now this, he most definitely meant to sound as harsh if not harsher than it did, “Ever since Abigail—“

The car squealed and swerved across the snow as Hannibal pushed onto the breaks, halting all movement. Will instantly threw his hands up onto the dash to keep himself from whacking his head onto the dashboard. He turned to face Hannibal as soon as he caught the breath that was winded from him. He stared at that hands that tightly gripped the wheel, noticing the slight shake to them, the shoulders that were bunched up in tension.

Licking his lips, Will spoke gently, “Hannibal, I didn’t mean…”

“I think it’s best that we cease speaking until we get to my Uncle’s.” Will didn’t want to, but the guilt he felt was real, and he almost ( _almost_ ) felt the instinct to reach out to comfort his husband. He raised a hand to reach for Hannibal’s arm, but the car began to move and he pulled back, inching further away from Hannibal as he could in their confined space.

When they arrived to the cabin, Will moved as slow as a snail as he climbed from the vehicle and helped Hannibal to take their luggage, before he even reached the steps leading up to the front porch Robert Lecter came booming cheerfully from the immaculate home, “There they are! My two favorite men,”

His accent had been richer than Hannibal’s, and the sound of the old man’s voice made him smile and he allowed the man to pull him into a hug. When Robert insisted on helping Will with his bags, Hannibal came beside him, embraced his uncle and said, “No, no Uncle, we’ve got everything perfectly fine, don’t bother straining yourself,”

“Oh please, Hannibal, I’m as young as a spring chicken!”

Will’s laugh was heartfelt, “Of course Robert, each year that passes you always look younger than before,”

“See Hannibal, this is why I had no issues in you marrying this fine scruff ball of a man,” Robert cackled and slung his arm around Will’s shoulders as he lead the couple into the home, a gust of warmth enveloping them as they stepped into the large foyer, “How are the two of you doing in lovely Maryland, anyway?”

He tried his best to hide the shame that was creeping upon him, Robert thought so highly of Will, and if only the older man knew the truth, Will was sure the man would never look at him with the same admiration again. It was only two weeks, he could last this out to the best of his ability, but Hannibal’s uncanny silence to his uncle was throwing him off though.

“Is that them?” came a very soft voice from the living area, and soon they were greeted with Mischa rushing in, squealing as she threw her arms around her brother and nuzzled into him for a brief moment and then repeating the action with Will, “Oh I’ve missed you two. We really need to stop making this a yearly thing and change it to six months, I always feel like it’s been centuries since I’ve last seen either of you,”

“Your words do not go unacquainted, my darling Mischa, each year you look more and more like our mother,” Hannibal complimented warmly as he grabbed his sister’s hand and kissed it, making her snort and roll her eyes before pulling her hand away.

Will looked around, “And where might the lovely Murasaki be?”

“I’m in the kitchen, making dinner for us all, I hope you’re hungry,” speaking of the devil, from the kitchen archway emerged the ever radiant Lady Murasaki.

“We are always hungry when it comes to your great cooking, Auntie, and might I say it smells absolutely divine, mind if I have a quick peek? Will, if you don’t mind taking our things to our room?” Hannibal said curtly, before slipping past his aunt and heading into the kitchen.

Will was given a quick peck on the cheek from the elder woman, “It is lovely to see you again Will,” Murasaki told him before following after Hannibal.

Slightly aggravated that Hannibal left him with carrying all of their things to their room, Will sighed and grabbed what he could while Mischa instantly moved to help him, following him up the wooden stairs to the usual room that Hannibal and him had shared during their stay here.

 Once they had set everything in the room, Will was instantly cornered by Mischa, “Alright big guy, so what’s been new, is Hannibal doing okay?”

“Hannibal is perfectly fine, why do you ask?” Will stammered slightly, caught off guard by Mischa’s question.

The young woman shrugged, “It’s my big brother, it’s only natural to be a tiny bit curious. Plus, I don’t know, he seemed a little off when you guys arrived, I wasn’t sure if something was wrong or not,”

“He’s just a bit tired from the long flight and drive up here, I’m sure he’ll be better after some of Murasaki’s cooking and a decent night’s sleep,” it wasn’t exactly the best save in the book, but it was good enough for Mischa as she nodded and popped her lips, turning quickly on her heels, her curls bounced along her shoulders as she headed out from the room.

Will let out a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair, moving to sit on the bed. The same bed that they’d spent many nights together in, the same bed that still had a few groaning springs in it. He pulled his phone out from his pocket and sent a brief text to Matthew before returning it to his pocket and giving one last glance to his surroundings before heading down to join the family of Lecters downstairs for dinner.

It was going to be one hell of a Christmas, this he could not doubt.


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Dinner wasn't as extremely disastrous as Will had been dreading it to be. Robert went on to tell a story about when he was visiting Australia, a story he’s told them many times but they've never really got the heart to remind him that, plus, Will kind of enjoyed hearing the story, this was probably going to be the last time he would hear it.

It felt nice to be as ease and not so uptight and on alert to make sure everything had seemed normal, and he didn't have to worry about feeling guilty in this moment because he wasn't expected to lie or put on some sort of show for everyone. The truth was what it was, the truth, he and Hannibal would be nothing more after the New Year, but it still felt like his skin was burning just from being in the same room as the other man. He didn't know how he would break the news to his family of their split, but he did know that it wouldn't be his burden to worry or care about.

Shockingly, they were all laughing and smiling and Will almost forgot any of his and Hannibal’s marital problems because of this, it felt like any other Christmas they’d spent together in this cabin, but maybe the wine was loosening Will up, as it usually had whenever he drank it around Hannibal. Everything seemed alright until about halfway through Robert’s story, “So then we get to the pond, and out of nowhere I hear my friend Rodriquez yelling from behind me, no more than five seconds later I’m being shouted to get out of the way. I turn around, and my life flashes before my eyes as a huge—“

Everything went silent except for the harsh coughing that erupted from Robert. Will was in the middle of having a sip of his wine when Robert held his napkin to his mouth, shoulders bouncing with coughs, Murasaki reached over and placed a hand on his husbands shoulder, concern etched into her face. Hannibal merely watched with a stone cold expression before he asked, “Uncle, will you be alright?”

Robert merely waved him off, his coughing quieting and slowing until eventually it came to a complete halt, “It’s alright Hannibal, wine must have not agreed with me there for a moment,”

Mischa set her fork down, “Well, I am absolutely full. The meal was lovely Auntie,” she then looked to her uncle, “Why don’t you finish your story while we start decorating the tree?”

Wiping his mouth quickly, Murasaki stood and helped her husband to stand, “That sounds like a wonderful idea, my darling Mischa, let’s clean up!”

Will looked over to Hannibal who seemed to still be staring at his uncle with a very intrigued look, and the ex profiler knew all too well that look, when everyone cleaned up and started heading into the living room, Will grabbed a hold of Hannibal’s arm to stop him, whispering quietly to him, “We’re here for a vacation Hannibal, you don’t need to inspect every detail you see. Try to relax, I hate it when you get irritated because you can’t figure something out. There’s nothing to figure out,”

Hannibal stared down at his spouse, his lips doing that thing where they twitch very briefly, “Dear Will, are you showing a bit of concern for me?”

“Oh please,” he rolled his eyes and scoffed, “I just don’t want to deal with the attitude you get when you hit a blank wall on something. Come on, wouldn’t want to leave _your_ family waiting,”

“I have yet to sign anything, William, therefore they are your family as well,” Hannibal stepped around Will, smirking in slight satisfaction as he carried on joining his family in the decorating.

When they got into the living room, Murasaki had put on an old Christmas record and Mischa was twirling around the tree with tinsel wrapped around her shoulders, “C’mon Will, dance with me!” she exclaimed and bounced over, wrapping the tinsel around Will who chucked and grabbed a hold of the young girl’s hands, twirling her under his arm.

“Oh will the two of you quit messing about, you’re going to knock the tree over into the fire,” Robert chided, though his tone was nothing less of playful, he was busy opening up the many boxes of decorations that they’ve collected over the years they’ve all spent together.

Hannibal was helping Murasaki in wrapping the lights around the wide tree, chuckling as he watched Mischa and Will stumble about together. It was obvious how the wine had brought the old Will that Hannibal had missed quite often out to the surface, “Pay attention Hannibal, we’ve got a tree to bring to life!”

“Yes, Auntie,” he told her before stepping out of her way and resuming his current task.

The glint of an object caught Mischa’s eyes and she pulled away from Will and rushed over to the box of ornaments that her Uncle had opened, “Oh look!”

She pulled a silver bulb from the box, in glitter it had ‘ _Mischa Lecter: Year 5_ ’.

“Every year you find that bulb and it’s always the first one you hang,” Murasaki was smiling so fondly, she stepped towards her niece and leaned against her, “You were five when you put that glitter on it, that was the first Christmas you spent with your Uncle and I,”

“I can’t help that it’s my favorite,”

Their words began to fade into the background as Will grabbed another box and began to rummage through it, gazing at the array of ornaments, smiling in memory of all of them and the familiarity of them all. He froze almost instantly when he noticed a certain decoration, cocking his head to the side and reaching towards the bottom of the box to pull it out. Murasaki chimed in from behind him, “Make sure you’re careful, some of them break from being in there an entire—“

“Damn!” he muttered as his hand scraped across a shard from one of the bulbs, and he dropped the box onto the chair in front of him, pulling his hand out and holding it as he hissed quietly. Hannibal was instantly by his side.

“I guess I was a little late on the warning,” Murasaki deadpanned.

“Let me see your hand William,” Hannibal murmured, reaching to grab his husband’s hand and raise it to get a better look. At first Will jerked away, wanting to retort that he was fine and that he wasn’t a child, but he remembered where he was and he reluctantly let the doctor examine him.

Rolling his eyes, Will stared at Hannibal impatiently, Hannibal looked up from his hand and began leading him out of the living room, “I’ll have to get the first aid,”

“Hannibal, it’s literally a scratch. It only needs a Band-Aid, I’ve cut myself worse with paper,”

His protest went unnoticed as he was pulled into the kitchen where he waited with a heavy sigh as Hannibal left for a moment and then returned with his needed supplies.

“How flattering, you care. We should come around your family more often,”

The twitch in the older man’s brow made Will smirk; he loved pushing at Hannibal’s nerves. He continued, “Just be quick about it, please…”

“Patience, my love, patience,” Hannibal scolded, gently handling Will’s hand, eventually wrapping it up once the thin bleeding had ceased.

He still cringed whenever Hannibal used words of endearment anymore. He kept quiet as he watched Hannibal handle him with concentration. A few moments pass and Hannibal is finished, pulling away from him and putting everything back in the small kit. Will rubbed at the bandage, sighing, “I saw one of _her’s_ at the bottom of the box…”

Hannibal’s hands stopped all movement and he didn’t glance anywhere else but the words on the plastic container. Will shrugged, he was used to not getting any responses, it’d been ten months after all, “anyway, thanks, for my hand…”

 

 

It was around midnight when Will rolled over to check that Hannibal’s breath was steady and that the older man had been asleep. He carefully stood from the bed and started making his way down the wooden steps that lead to the foyer, slipping on his shoes and coat and stepping outside as quietly as he could, so not to wake anyone up.

He pulled his cell phone from his pocket, he didn't have much service but it was enough to make a brief phone call. These mountains were a pain in the ass when it came to phones. He found Matthew’s name and held the phone to his ear, listening to the choppy rings. Eventually, Matt picked up.

_“Hey babe, how goes the trip?”_

“It’s terrible. But aside from Hannibal’s moody and pompous self, it’s alright, seeing everyone isn’t as bad as I was expecting it to be. I miss you…"

There was a bit of weird static and some shuffling from Matthew’s end, the man whispered something but Will couldn’t make it out, he finally spoke clearly, _“I miss you too, sweetums, how’s sleeping with Dr. Lecter treatin’ ya?”_

Will groaned, rubbing his forehead as he sat on the steps leading down from the porch area, “Any bed with you is better than a bed with Hannibal, I can tell you that much.”

_“I can imagine it’s like sleeping next to a brick?”_

“Try an entire brick wall,”

_“Baby come back! You can blame it all on me~”_

“You are _not_ singing that to me right now,” he wouldn’t admit that it did make him smile just a bit.

_“’Course I am, screw that bastard, my bed’s probably warmer than his anyway. If you’re so miserable just leave now, I mean, fuck it. Who cares if he doesn’t sign the damn papers, you don’t have to stay with him regardless,”_

Biting his lip, Will didn’t know what to say, “I know, I know… It’s just… everyone here… and…”

_“Please tell me you aren’t having second thoughts…”_

“No! No, no, I promise. No. I don’t think _anything_ could change my mind about this—shit!”

The sound of the front door opening had Will frantically ending his call with Matthew and shoving the cellular device into his pocket, standing from his current spot on the steps and being greeted by a very tired looking Lady Murasaki, who jumped when she saw Will outside as well, “Oh my, Will what are you doing out here so late?”

“I got a bit hot so I decided I could use some of fresh air, but I should probably be asking you the same question…”

The older woman waved him off, shrugging as she pulled her fleece closer around her thin shoulders, “That Robert’s gone and had another coughing fit, can’t really sleep with it,”

“Is he alright?” his general concern was inevitable… plus, he doesn’t remember Robert ever having any problems before...

“He’s perfectly fine, just a slight cold. I gave him some medicine and tea, he’s asleep now hopefully,” she responded, easing Will’s thoughts and leaning against the wooden railing, “it’s nothing to fret about dear. But since you’re out here, let’s have a little chat, yeah?”

“Uh, I really should actually be getting back to Hannibal…” Will was almost just caught chatting with the current man he’s having an affair with, he really didn’t feel up for having one of his and Murasaki’s deep conversations tonight, but the pouting lip she gave him made him sigh and then give her a reassuring smile, “You know what, sure, why not?”

Murasaki motioned for him to join her side, which he did, “So I’ve been meaning to ask you, I didn’t want to say anything to Hannibal in fear it might upset him, and of course I don’t want to upset you either, but Hannibal’s always so hard to talk to, even when he was a little boy,”

Will nodded in agreement, adjusting the glasses on his face, “That’s a little bit of an understatement, Lady Murasaki, don’t you think?”

She let out a breathy laugh, “Perhaps, but you’ve always had a way of bringing him out of his shell… When the two of you met I’d never seen Hannibal so, well, open and dare I say cheerful… but I can’t help but notice that this year he’s a bit reserved – which, of course you and he both have every right to be, given the accident…”

He flinched at the term, his face dropping as he stared out into the yard that was blanketed with white, flurries floating around them, “You don’t need to worry any, Hannibal is doing fine, we both are. We’re making it day by day,”

“I don’t doubt that the two of you aren’t _okay_ , but you aren’t exactly great, now are you?” Will’s fingers twitched as he rested his hands upon the railing, “Will?”

Will let out a sigh and gave her a short side glance while he swallowed roughly around the lump that was sitting at the top of his throat. Lady Murasaki was wise, and Will knew she was probably the hardest person he’s ever had to lie to, but he couldn’t bare to tell her the truth, he most likely wouldn’t even be able to stomach it, “We were rocky at first, but things have gotten better… We’re going to be just fine. You can trust me with this. Hannibal is in good hands,”

It burned him. It scorned every inch of him and he could feel his bones rattling, choking him up and he wanted to run. He wishes with every ounce of any strength that he had left that he could just run from this entire place.

Murasaki nodded, her frown not gone from her face, but she was content with the lies that were spoken. The profiler deep inside Will could see from her expression that she _knew_ somewhere along his words that he wasn’t exactly genuine with them, “Right then, we best get back inside, yeah?”

“Ye—“ he was cut off by the woman turning and wrapping her arms tightly around his shoulders, embracing him quite tightly and holding him for what seemed like eternity, only to be seconds in reality, “I love you, don’t you go forgetting that Mr. Graham,”

“Of course, Lady Murasaki,” he nodded as she pulled back, his eyes resting at the bridge of her nose; eye contact was definitely not an option for him right now.

She smacked his chest playfully, “How many times must I tell you kid, you can call me Aunt you know,”

No, he really couldn’t, not now. He threw any chance of him ever deserving to refer to her that way out the window as soon as he and Hannibal fell apart and he climbed in bed with another man for the first time.

Will was sure to chuckle and nod anyway, and held the door for her on their way back inside. When he reached the bedroom and opened the door, he was greeted with a very awake Hannibal who was sat up in bed, typing away at the laptop sat in his lap. Will gently closed the door and didn’t make any conversation, merely climbing into the other side of the bed and burrowing himself in the blankets. They both remained quiet. He wanted to ask what Hannibal was doing awake, why he wasn’t currently sleeping and instead clicking at the keypad of his laptop…

What he doesn’t know is the answer. Hannibal couldn’t sleep while in a bed without Will… Hannibal hadn’t gotten a proper night’s sleep in months.

 

 

 

_Clink.Thud._

Will paused with the axe as Robert set another piece of wood onto the tree stump; both bundled up tightly to keep the sharp wind from eating at their skin. Their faces were pink. He chopped it easily, the action taking him back to when he would do this with his father as a child. Now, he thought of Robert as a second father since the passing of his biological dad.

Robert had to pause every now and again to let out a few coughs, but Will remembered that Murasaki had mentioned to him that the old man had a small cold, surely a cough like that wasn’t the workings of just a simple cold, “Murasaki mentioned you had a cold, are you sure it’s wise to be standing out here in the snow chopping wood? I can do it myself or have Hannibal help me,”

“Don’t worry boy, no cold is going to stop me from spending some quality time with you,” Robert boasted, setting another log onto the stump. Will stared at him a moment before he shrugged and raised the axe up and brought it down with force, the once log now falling apart into two pieces, “Besides, Hannibal is baking cookies with Mischa, you know that man and his baking, might not be wise to disturb him,”

“Honestly I would insist otherwise, but you make an excellent point. One time I tried to take him away from that kitchen of his and he had this look in his eyes, thought the man was going to slaughter me and add me to the menu,”

This had Robert raging in a fit of laughter, which then resulted in an incredibly worse fit of coughing. Will frowned and licked his dry lips before setting the axe down and kneeling to grab a few pieces of wood, “I think this is enough for now, we should go in and warm up,”

“Excellent idea, I wonder if they’ve got any chocolate chip finished yet!”

They both laughed and headed inside, when they stepped into the cozy and warm kitchen they were greeted with a wonderfully sweet smell, and Mischa glanced up from where she had been rolling out dough. The kitchen was a complete mess, and Robert mentioned something about Murasaki not finding out about the mess or there’d be a blood bath.

Mischa giggled and nudge her brother behind her, “Your lover returned from his two hour mission of getting wood,”

Hannibal turned around, flour covered the front of the red apron that he had wrapped around his torso, and Will raised an eyebrow and then grinned, the siblings must’ve gotten up to something while he and Robert were outside together.

He blinked as he watched his husband walk around the island in the center of the kitchen and greeted Will with a spoon of cookie mix, holding it to his mouth. Will stared at the taller man for a moment before flicking his tongue out for a taste; he nearly fell to his knees at the divinity of it. He scoffed playfully, “The complexity of the Lecters and their astounding cooking skills sickens me,”

This caused everyone to laugh, and a small smile to grace the sharp features of Hannibal’s face, something Will has rarely seen as of late, “We take much pride in your sickness,”

“I know you do, you’re a bunch of psychopaths,” he teased, eyes widening a fraction when he received a kiss on his forehead from Hannibal. He wasn’t able to respond or react much because instantly the man turned on his heels and returned to his baking.

 

 

 

Later on in the day Will ventured into the living room with a cup of warm hot chocolate in his hands and a plate stacked with cookies to deliver to Mischa and Murasaki who had been sat in front of the low burning fireplace as they flicked through the pages of photographs in front of their folded legs.

He handed the plate to Murasaki who cheered in excitement and set them down beside her. He sat himself down between the two of them, “So, what’s going on in memory lane?”

Mischa snorted, and held a book up to Will’s face of a picture he’s probably seen about a dozen times of Hannibal opening up a gift at the age of fifteen and looking very unpleased with the present that he received, “That face,”

“Ah, the infamous grumpy face, I’ve seen that a time or two in my life,” Will said with a wide grin.

“A time or two, that’s all?” Murasaki questioned, obviously knowing how much of an understatement it was to make.

Mischa mischievously stared at her brother-in-law before placing the book back to the floor, “I’ve gotta ask, has he ever made that face in bed?”

“Mischa Lecter!” the elder woman scolded from across the younger.

Will shook his head and snickered, giving her a shrug as he stared down at the countless mass of photos, “its fine, Murasaki… It’s no secret,”

“Oh, so he totally has!” Mischa said dramatically as she pointed at Will, “No way! What the heck did you do to earn that look,”

“Oh heavens, the two of you!” Murasaki grabbed a cookie to take a bite before she flipped to another page, “Hopefully my chewing drowns out the morbid details,”

“Well, I won’t tell you much, but one time I denied him a little something and he sulked the rest of the night while having _that_ face,” the agent shrugged, “It was actually kind of adorable,”

The youngest Lecter let out a jokingly dreamy sigh, “Oh, how I wish I lived the married life,”

“Oh look at this Will!” he turned to give a glance to the picture that Murasaki had been pointing at as she cooed, “This was when you opened that book Hannibal got you as a little joke, what was it called?”

“Oh yeah I remember,” the tone in his voice was one of a grudge he never got rid of, “It was called something like _‘101 Signs that You’ve Got a K-9 Addiction’_ ,”

“I’m pretty sure you’ve still got that one, I believe it is sat right next to the book I got you for your birthday the same year called ‘ _How to Break Your Dog Addiction’_ ,” Hannibal said as he shifted to sit down with the three of them, Mischa clutched at her stomach as she rolled back and laughed.

Murasaki was giggling as well, holding out the plate of cookies for Hannibal to take one, which he gladly did. Will was flushed and glaring playfully at the psychiatrist, “You know when I married you, I never would have thought you were one to have a comedic side,”

“Aw, but you guys are so adorable together, look~” Mischa held up the book  in front of her, showing a picture of Will and Hannibal kissing under a mistletoe that Robert was holding above them from behind the sofa they were sitting on, a cunningly deviant look on his face.

Hannibal frowned, “I have yet to forgive you, dearest sister, for making me wear those incredibly ridiculous antlers,”

“But it’s quite fitting, don’t ya think?” Will asked him with a smirk, bumping his shoulder (almost lovingly even) into his husband and winking, “Bet your reindeer name would be Sir-Grump-a lot,”

“Youuuu knoooowww~” Mischa began to sing, and Will joined in.

_Dasher and Dancer,_  
and Prancer and Vixen,  
Comet and Cupid  
And Donner and Blitzen,  
but do you recaaaaaaall…

The most _cranky_ reindeer of all~”

Everyone roared with an eruption of laughed and snorts, while Hannibal sulked from beside Will.

“The two of you are not meant for singing,” he mumbled.

“See, so cranky!” his sister exclaimed while pointing at him.

Will was still snickering quietly, leaning in to give Hannibal’s cheek a quick kiss, “We’re only teasing dear, don’t get your antlers in a twist,”

“Now, now, let’s all stop picking on the poor fawn, you’re going to make him cry,” Murasaki reprimanded playfully.

Will shifted away from Hannibal, clearing his throat before redirecting his attention back to the photos. Most were from their childhood, so Will hadn’t been in some of them, but there were quite a few of them he spotted of himself and the others from the years before, and he continued to wonder how they had ended up _here_ , like this…

Will found himself getting lost in his thoughts, Mischa voice fading as she talked about one of the best gifts she’d gotten when she was eight…

_“Hannibal, wake up,” Will said, it hadn’t even breached five o’clock yet, but Will knew Hannibal had been up late wrapping presents and setting them under the tree. He couldn’t help it though; even a person who wasn’t a morning person was_ always _a morning person on Christmas Day._

_“Mmmm,” came a rough sound as Hannibal tried to push a very affectionate Will from him, “William, it is entirely too early at the moment for an array of kisses,”_

_“C’mmmooon, it’s morning, it’s time to wake up!” Hannibal was attacked with another assault of kisses to his bare chest, “You know I’m always a morning person on Christmas!”_

_“Yes, and it will never give me that uncanny feeling that someone has decided to impersonate my very_ afternoon _husband,”_

_Rolling his eyes, Will moved to lay on top of his husband, running a finger across his shoulders and down through the light hair that was etched onto his chest, “You’re really gonna make me wait to open presents?”_

_“I can just_ hear _you pouting,” the doctor hadn’t even bothered to open his eyes yet, “But do not worry, my darling, I will only make you wait until_ after _breakfast,”_

_“Deal!” Will cheered, bouncing up to his knees to straddle his husband, “Come on, come on, wake up!”_

_Will cocked his head to the side when he received a grin in reply and gasped when he was flipped over to his back, the weight of Hannibal bearing down on him, “Only when you kiss me properly,”_

_Blinking and winded, Will stared up into the sanguine eyes of the man he loved most of all in this world. He smiled genuinely and licked his lips, “Whenever you’re ready, babe,”_

_Hannibal gave haste to leaning down and capturing his lover’s lips with his own._

“Will, you there?” Mischa was waving her hands in front of her brother-in-law, staring at him with concern as the rest of them were.

Shaking off his thoughts, he nodded and stood, “Yeah… I’m uh, sorry, spaced out for a moment there. I’m going to take this cup to the kitchen; I’ll be right back,”

Their concern hadn’t gone away though as they watched him exit the room, Murasaki leaned in closer to Hannibal, “You want to go check on him?”

“Of course, auntie,” Hannibal took his leave and followed after Will.

When he stepped into the kitchen he was greeted with the flannel covered back of his husband, but he moved no closer to him than his spot at the arched doorway, “Everything alright, Will?”

This made the younger jump, the mug clanking into the sink before he regained his composure, “I’m perfectly fine. Hannibal.”

“I’ve been married to you for five years now, William, I believe I know most when you are not _perfectly fine_ ,” came Hannibal’s composed retort.

“Listen,” Will’s tongue was quick as he turned, hands resting back on the counter as he leaned against it, “Just because we’re being friendly and putting on a show for your family, doesn’t mean you get to come to me in private acting genuinely concerned for me,”

“I am not acting—“

“We all know that you’ve got Oscar winning acting skills, Hannibal, and nobody’s around right now so there’s no reason to be using them,” Will spat, “I don’t need you messing with my head on this trip, Han, and I definitely don’t fucking need to be patronized,”

The stare down that followed was brief, and Will wouldn’t have any more of it. He pushed away from the counter and brushed by the other, “Your sister and aunt are waiting, wouldn’t want to leave them in suspense now would we?”

“Of course…” Hannibal waited a few moments before he managed to compose the face he let fall once Will hadn’t been looking and followed.


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

_He spent days that bled into weeks in bed, he felt unmoving. He felt cold, and stripped of any tiresome emotion that used to violate him throughout late nights. He hardly ate anything, nibbled at the food Hannibal brought to him, remained immobile with every caress that the other man brushed to his face with the back of his hand._

_Will Graham had shut down, inevitably so._

Will was shaken awake, everything around him suddenly freezing as he sat up in the damp bed. He doesn’t remember the last time he’d woken up in a cold sweat. It definitely had to have been just after the accident, so it’s been a good nine or so months. He looks to his right, Hannibal looking at him with curiosity and maybe some apprehension, “You were dreaming,”

“No shit.” Was his rather ill-mannered response, “I’m fine, I just need some air. Sorry about the sheets, you can strip them, I’ll wash them…”

Just before Will has the chance to reach over and grab his phone, his arm is caught by Hannibal, who Will doesn’t look at, “William,”

“I said I was fine, Hannibal. Just let me get some damn air,”

“You do not need your phone for just a bit of air. Surely whatever it is you want to speak with  _him_  about, you can speak it with me,” no, Will hasn’t been able to talk to Hannibal about anything.

“No offense, Hannibal, but honestly I really don’t  _want_  to talk to you. Frankly, it’s been ten months and if you’re just now proposing we  _actually_  talk about something, you’ve got a horrible sense of good timing,” Will pulled his arm from Hannibal’s firm grasp and stood up from the bed.

Again, another pause, “I have always been concerned, and I do believe I have attempted many times to speak with you, you simply say the same thing as you’ve just said. So will there never be good timing with you?”

“Guess not.”

Hannibal stared very intently at Will, his jaw tight, “Very well then, at least change into dryer clothing before heading out,”

 

 

Later that day Will watched through the kitchen window as Hannibal and Mischa were outside building a snowman. It almost made him scoff, how human and normal the other man acted around his family compared to how he acted around Will when they were back in Baltimore. 

When Mischa crept around the side of the large snowman to hit Hannibal in the back of the head with a snow ball, Will almost spit his coffee out onto the window, but he refrained thankfully, he didn’t want to give Murasaki any reason to hit him over the head and scold him. Hannibal wasn’t too pleased from the look on his face, and that terrible hat he'd been wearing definitely made it even better.

He could hear Mischa squeal when she started to run from her brother as he advanced towards her rather quickly.

Hannibal called after her, his voice muffled from where Will stood inside, “You dug your grave Mischa, now you must lay in it,”

Shaking his head at the two, Will turned away from the window to set his empty mug on the counter. He was greeted with a very tired looking Murasaki who ventured over to the coffee machine wrapped in her bed robe, “That Robert had me up all night with his coughing,”

“Are you sure he only has a cold?” Will asked her curiously.

Her lack of response at first made Will feel a bit uneasy, “Murasaki?”

“Oh, don't worry Will, Uncle Robert will be just fine after a day’s rest,” she cupped his face gently and then continued with her coffee, “Us older folk aren’t as immune to the cold weather as you young one’s anymore, it takes a number on us you know,”

“Auntie Murasaki!” screamed Mischa as she stormed through the house rushing to hide behind her aunt who had been just a bit shorter than her, “Hannibal is being naughty and trying to throw snow in the house!”

The look on the woman’s face was evidence enough for Will to see that she really didn’t get enough sleep last night to prepare for her niece and nephew’s antics, “Hannibal!”

As if on cue, Hannibal appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, his gloved hands wrapped around a ball of white that he was patting, “Do not be alarmed, Aunt, whatever mess I create I will surely clean. I just need to teach my baby sister a little lesson,”

“Hannibal, don’t you think this is a little—“ Will began, but Mischa squealed as she moved to hide behind Will for better leverage. Hannibal attempted to throw the snow and hit her, but instead, he hit Will right in the side of the head. Flurries exploded and stuck to his hair and t-shirt clad shoulders.

Nobody moved, the first to do anything had been Lady Murasaki, who burst into a fit of giggles and covered her mouth with her hands, “Oh heavens…” 

“Hannibal…” Will started, the warning in his voice was enough to have Mischa flinch and take cover behind her aunt one last time.

“Will, you were a brave sacrifice, I’m sorry my love but it was for the greater good. Mischa has become quite the little terrorist—“

“You better hope that when I’m dressed for the occasion, you aren’t anywhere in sight, because you’re going to have a lot more than snow coming your way.”

Mischa scrunched up her nose, “I don’t know if I’m supposed to assume that was sexual, or not, I can’t tell with those two,”

“Mischa Lecter!” Murasaki admonished, “Inappropriate young lady!”

“Has anyone noticed, when William tries to threaten me it’s almost like a puppy,” Hannibal was removing the gloves from his hand, moving towards his husband, “Nothing but high pitched barking, but you listen anyway because they’re cute and you don’t want them to go away,”

Hannibal was definitely in Will’s personal bubble at this point, reaching up to brush away the snow from his shoulders and hair, Will though, wasn’t amused in the slightest, “So if they’re so cute why is it that every time I’ve asked you for a dog, you find some excuse as to why we can’t have one,”

“I’m  _extremely_  allergic,” exaggerated the older man, “It’s really a tragedy, is it not?”

Will shoved Hannibal’s arm away, it appeared playful but they both knew there had been something else hidden underneath, “I’ve been married to you for five years, Hannibal; I’ve seen your medical records. You are  _not_  allergic,”

“Alright boys, no cat fights in the kitchen,” interrupted Murasaki, Mischa was still behind with a grin on her face, “I need the two of you to do a favor for your dear Auntie,”

Hannibal straightened and directed his eyes form Will to look at his aunt, “Of course, whatever it is Will and I can surely do,”

Still glaring at the other, Will nodded, “Of course,”

“Great. I need you to run into town, I know it’s a bit of a drive, but I need for you to pick up a few things for Uncle Robert,”

 

 

A bit of a drive was an understatement. Town was at the bottom of the mountain and it was nearly a four hour drive just to get there. Most of the drive was quiet as Will studied the list of things Murasaki needed them to get, he raised an eyebrow, “Hannibal, some of the things on this list are…”

“Yes, I noticed… But we do not need to jump to any conclusions. Robert and Murasaki would not hide anything from us, I’m sure everything is fine,” Will didn’t quite believe that, but he wasn’t going to argue otherwise with the other man because he wasn’t exactly in the mood for it anymore.

He folded the list and put it in his coat pocket. When he glanced back up to the road, Will’s eyes widened and he shouted at Hannibal to slow down when a deer jumped into the road. After, it was nothing but the sound of breaks squealing against the snow and Hannibal trying to keep the car in control.

When everything had come to a stop, Will was breathing heavily, eyes watching as the deer jumped through the woods and out of sight to safety. A hand was touching his shoulder and that’s when he realized that Hannibal was speaking to him, “Will?”

“Huh? Yeah?” he asked when he came back to reality, shaking his head, “What the hell, Hannibal, why weren’t you paying attention?”

“I apologize, I don’t have as good of reflexes as you,” the irritated tone made Will want to smack his spouse in his stupid face. “Are you alright?”

“Of course I’m alright, but I won’t be for long driving with you,” he spat.

“My driving is very adequate, dear Will. I believe It’s  _your_ driving we should be worrying about,”

  1.   _Oh._  That was a low. It was far too obvious for Will not to know what he was hinting at. “You’re a dick, you know that, Hannibal? You’re a fucking dick, that wasn’t even remotely fair of you to say,”



There wasn’t a reply, which fueled Will’s anger even further, he went on to say, “But of course you’ve got nothing to say, you never have anything to say. Wonder why it is I decided to crawl in bed with Matthew anyway,”

“Do not blame me for your adultery William, that was your decision, your choice, your sin, no one made you do that,” Hannibal addressed to him calmly, and that’s probably another thing Will couldn’t stand anymore, never, ever does Hannibal ever talk to him with an ounce of emotion about anything.

“You’re absolutely right about that, it was my choice. But you aren’t allowed to act like you’re a perfect saint sent from the Gods,” Will opened the door and climbed out from the car, it probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do given how cold it had been, but Will certainly wasn’t going to spend another moment in Hannibal’s presence.

“Where are you possibly going to go, Will, you cannot walk all the way into town in this whether,”  

“No, but maybe you can let this sink into that thick skull of yours: I would rather freeze to death than spend another second with you,” he moves to close the door, but stops before he can, “Oh, and by the way, in case you forgot  _doctor Lecter_ , I’m supposed to be your husband, not one of your fucking patients _,_ ”

The door slammed closed and he moved to walk along the side of the snow covered road.

The car hadn’t moved from its spot. Hannibal watched from warmly inside as Will continued to walk further and further away. Eventually though, as soon as Will could barely see the vehicle, Hannibal started up the car and drove until he was slowing to a crawl beside him.

With the roll of his eyes, Will moodily opened the passenger door and climbed back in, holding up his hand to stop the words about to come from Hannibal’s mouth, “Don’t talk to me. Don’t. As soon as we get into town I’m getting a room and I am  _not_  coming back up here with you, I don’t care if you decide not to go through with the divorce, it’s not going to stop me from leaving. You can tell your family whatever excuse you have, I don’t care anymore, and I’m done playing this little game with you. You can blame me for what happened to Abigail for the rest of your miserable, lonely, unhappy life, but I will  _not_  be around for it,”

Hannibal hadn’t continued driving since Will reentered the car, “Do you truly believe that? What happened to Abigail happened, Will, there is no one holding blame on you for it except yourself. I have let you project onto me for long enough, perhaps too long, but I care for you too much to make you face the demons inside your head in fear I would have lost you further than I already have, but it appears I made a miscalculation,”

“I do not  _project,_ and what have I told you about psychoanalyzing me?” Furious was an understatement, and Will had nowhere to run, nowhere to go, he was trapped… and Hannibal decides to use this as his moment to finally speak more than a few sentences to him in months, “So, have you got a little portfolio of my psych then, since apparently you’ve been profiling me this entire time instead of actually  _talking_ to me?”

“There was nothing to talk about, William—“

“ABIGAIL. Abigail is certain nothing!”

He didn’t mean to yell, not as harshly as he was, but it didn’t matter because Hannibal was a fucking bolder of some sort because it didn’t make him flinch even the littlest bit. “Abigail is gone, William, and I know that is hard for you to accept, but it is the truth and I do not wish to dwell on her,”

“How can you even say… Christ, what happened to you Han? What happened to my fucking husband…” he wasn’t going to cry dammit, that was the last thing he was going to give Hannibal the honor of seeing, “… I lost the most important person that day, the most important person to ever come into my life. And before you open that stupid mouth and say anything, I am  _not_  talking about Abigail. So let that sink--”

It happened far too quickly for him to even realize what was happening, but Hannibal was instantly closer to him, so close that Will’s back was pressed so far into the door that he thought he was going to melt away and become one with the interior, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be terrified or not, but he was, the look in Hannibal’s eyes had been something he’d never seen before. He couldn’t even begin to describe it.

Hannibal stared at him, and before Will was given the chance to look elsewhere his jaw was gripped tightly by the bigger man’s and held firmly into place, “You will look at me when I say this to you, William, because I am not sure when I am going to tell you this again,”

“Hanni—“

“You’re going to let me talk, because whether you don’t want to believe it or not, I have tried many times to talk to you, but you’re too busy  _fucking_  that  _dog_  of yours to even give me the chance. You can leave. You can run off with Mr. Brown and you can be as happy as you lie to yourself that you will be. But you are  _my_  husband, you are  _my_  family, and you will not be taking that from me, understand William? You will not take that from me.”

“Let me go. Right now, Hannibal.”

It took a few seconds, but Hannibal released his grip from Will. “You’re not going to get me to stay that way, Hannibal. That isn’t how life works, and I’m sorry that things had to come to this, I truly am. I will never be able to forgive myself for what I have done to you, but I can’t exactly forgive you either…”

Hannibal’s line of sight was now focused on the hands that were resting on the steering wheel instead of Will’s jaw, “I will arrange for you to have a flight home by tomorrow morning if that is what you truly wish,”

“Hannibal…” Will shook his head, God, everything was crumbling even further than it had been before, he felt his chest tightening and his lung circulation cutting off, if this was how he were to die, he would probably beg for mercy shamelessly,  “No. I’ll finish out the vacation. It’s what I promised to you, it’s what I need to do…”

“Promises are nothing to be kept anymore,”

“Let me stay, it’s alright Hannibal. I want to, if not for your sake then Mischa, Robert, and Murasaki’s sake, I don’t want to be the reason that their Christmas get’s ruined,” Will was being nothing short of sincere with this. He wanted to do this, he chose to do this. He wanted to see it through, “Come on, let’s get these things for Murasaki and get back, I don’t want them worrying about us,”

“Very well,” and with that, Hannibal resumed their drive down the mountain. It was quiet the rest of the journey, and that was okay, because for right now, Will knew there wasn’t anything more to say about this.

He didn’t know what to take from this entire mess, but he was sure of something, Hannibal did love him. He just wasn’t sure if he loved Hannibal that way anymore, or if love was even enough…

_“I thought it would be a favor to you, to let you know that I know about you and Matthew Brown. No reason to have to put so much effort into hiding it from me anymore,” he knew that Hannibal would have found out eventually, and he also knew that one day they’d be having this conversation, but he certainly wasn’t expecting it right after they’d just finished having sex and Will hadn’t even left Hannibal’s lap yet, hadn’t even had the damn chance to come down from his high._

_“What the fuck, Hannibal.” Was all he could sneer before he shifted from his husbands lap, “You could have fucking waited until your dick wasn’t in my ass to drop that on me,”_

_“What would have been a more suitable time for you then, William?” Hannibal stood from the bed and began to dress himself as Will could only watch from the bed and pull the sheets to cover his lower half._

_“Oh, I don’t know Hannibal, maybe over a cup of fucking tea and casual conversations about the damn weather. But right, shouldn’t expect anything less from you.” He felt repulsed, “I don’t even want to look at you right now, what… what the hell do you even call this?”_

_There wasn’t a reply, merely Hannibal adjusting his tie and then moving to leave from the room, “I have a patient within the next hour to see, I’ll be home to make dinner, but I’m going to assume you’ll have something_ work related _to attend to,”_

_Will couldn’t reply, he just stared with his mouth agape as the door shut behind Hannibal and he was left alone in bed. Trembling, Will grabbed one of the many pillows on their bed and threw it at the door with a loud scream. He could see the triumphant smirk on Hannibal’s face in his mind. He fell back onto the bed to hide his face in the pillows; he couldn’t stop himself from crying even if he wanted to._

_Eventually, he called Matt. And as Hannibal predicted, Will wasn’t home for dinner. He wasn’t home for dinner the next day, and he even wasn’t home for Dinner the day after that._

While Hannibal was in the small corner store, Will had been waiting in the car flickering through an abundance of static filled radio stations. It started snowing pretty bad about an hour before they reached the store. From the way things were sounding from the radio and the weather app on his phone; it probably wasn’t going to get any better. Hell, Will could hardly make out Hannibal as the man exited the store with a bag of items from the list Murasaki had given them. He was covered with flurries the moment he entered the car, bundled up tightly in his coat, Will sighed, “It’s supposed to apparently get even worse… do you think we should wait a bit, I don’t think it’s exactly safe to drive up to the cabin in this…”

“I agree. If needed, I recall passing a bed and breakfast a few blocks back,” great, that’s splendid. Just what he wanted to do, spend a night alone with Hannibal, “The look on your face is very unflattering,”

Scoffing Will shook his head, “Just call Aunt Murasaki and ask her what she would prefer us to do,”

Unsurprisingly, Murasaki insisted they spend the night in town. Even more unsurprisingly, there had been only one room available at the bed and breakfast, which meant Will was going to be stuck in a room, alone, with Hannibal. He could only imagine how that would turn out, but he was hoping they’d just ignore each other’s company completely until the morning when they would attempt to head back to the house.

“This isn’t shocking at all, you know,” Will told Hannibal when they stepped into their room. He had to admit, it was rather nice, and would be enjoyable… for a couple that had actually enjoyed being a couple, “It’s like we’re in one of those ridiculous holiday movies, only ours isn’t worth watching,”

“I don’t think I’ve ever watched one of those,” Hannibal responded, moving to take off his coat and set it aside neatly.

“Have you ever even watched any movie, okay, aside from the one time I made you watch the Resident Evil movies with me when we first started dating,” that had Will smiling just a small bit, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t even watch the movies, Hannibal’s entire expression while they watched them had been enough entertainment in itself.

Hannibal ventured over towards the window to stare at the weather outside, “No, one time you had me watch that movie with the wolf in it,”

“You mean Balto? We watched that because Abigail wanted to, not because of me,”

“You really think you’re going to make me believe that you didn’t enjoy it just as much as she did, if not more?” Hannibal’s raised and very accusing eyebrow made Will annoyed.

Taking off his shoes, Will put his back to Hannibal, “Yeah, well you’re the one who sang the Frozen soundtrack an entire month every morning you showered last year after Mischa had us watch it that Christmas,”

“That’s a far cry from the truth, William,”

“No, Hannibal. All those times you thought I was asleep, I was faking it, I just wanted to hear you sing Let It Go,” Will shuffled around to pull his phone out, “Actually, if I remember correctly… I think I have a recording somewhere on here that I sent to Mischa one time…”

“You’re lying…” Hannibal tested, squinting his eyes at his husband.

Will snorted, finding the recording and moving his thumb to press play, “I am so not lying, right here it is,”

Just before Hannibal could hear himself begin the chorus of the song where Will had began the recording, he moved swiftly to grab it from Will, who jerked away with a roar of laughter, “Oh man I am so posting this everywhere before the night’s over,”

“Give me it, William!” Hannibal was oh so serious.

“What was that you told us earlier about a puppy barking?” Will teased, getting close to Hannibal’s face and holding his arm far away so that Hannibal couldn’t reach it. Eventually, Hannibal grabbed the phone and swiped through it with expert speed to deleting the recording.

This made Will fake a pout, he had a copy of it on his laptop at the cabin anyway, “Why couldn’t you just Let It Go, Hannibal?”

“You’re sleeping on the floor tonight, if you say one more thing,”

“One more thing.”

“Floor. Now.”

 

 

“Hannibal. Hannibal, wake up,” Will murmured at about two in the morning, “Wake up, come on, I know you aren’t that deep of a sleeper,”

When Hannibal woke, he blinked and glanced over to Will, his expression didn’t show it, but the man was rather curious as to why Will had been waking him up, “Is something the matter?”

“No. Well, yes. It’s freezing. And the lights won’t even work… I think the snow storm may have knocked the power out… I don’t even think we have heat,” Will explained to him, “And it’s two in the morning so there’s not exactly anybody I can call or ask,”

“Are you sure nothing’s working?” the older man asked, sitting up in bed. It was exceptionally cold, now that the blankets had fallen from him.

“Positive. I don’t know what we’re supposed to do, but my hands are getting pretty numb,”

Hannibal sighed, and reached for Will’s hands, “Come here then,”

“What.” Will said dumbly.

Rolling his eyes, the psychiatrist pulled Will towards him, “You’re not an idiot, William. If you want to keep warm you’re going to have to work with me here, just a little bit of compromise would be helpful,”

“Are you telling me you want us to… cuddle?” he looked almost offended.

“It is exactly what I am telling you, William,” Hannibal waited patiently, if Will wanted to be cold the rest of the night, so be it, but Hannibal would like to get back under the covers at some point before he started to get cold as well.

Will was very, very , reluctant. But, he maneuvered himself until he was pressing his back to Hannibal’s chest and the two were burrowing under the blankets together, Hannibal’s arms wrapped tightly around Will to barricade him in his own warmth. He kept firm hold of Will’s hands with his own. Will scrunched up his nose and then sighed, “I guess this is okay,”

“One night will surely not kill you,” he was told, and Will wasn’t going to argue with it because honestly, this wasn’t killing him at all… it was actually…

“Kinda nice,” he murmured into Hannibal’s arm.

“What was that?”

Blushing, Will hadn’t realized he spoke out loud, “I uh… I was just saying… It’s kind of nice. When was the last time we ever even did something like this?”

“I believe it has been quite some time,” the warm breath against his neck made Will shiver, he missed these moments. But he knew that these moments hadn’t existed anymore. The only reason this was happening was simply because they were, as Hannibal said, compromising. But that didn’t mean for this moment he couldn’t pretend a little.

“I kind of miss it…”

Will pretended he hadn’t said it, and Hannibal seemed to pretend that he didn’t hear it, and Will figured maybe that’s for the best… He fell asleep with no problems after that.


	5. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, sorry if the four day wait was a bit. My boyfriend had off from work, and my dad had come home from his own work and it's just been a family-crazy weekend preparing for our own Holiday mess that's about to occur, but I'm here with the next chapter and I hope that you enjoy it and that it gives you much needed satisfaction.
> 
> Thank you so much for all the feedback, kudos, and anybody who has subscribed and is enjoying the story. I honestly don't think it deserves so much love, and I just wanted to let you know that it's really appreciated. Some of you are very upset with Will, which is completely understandable and motivates me even more to set out a goal of having you all come 'round eventually to not so much being distasteful towards him, don't worry, he gets better, and there's much more to come. I do promise a happy ending, of sorts...
> 
> I don't think this chapter is really a superbly fantastic one, but hopefully it's enough until the next, chapter five is a big one! Thanks again!

Chapter Four

Morning comes and Will wakes up the exact opposite way he’d fallen asleep, there hadn’t been Hannibal there holding him to keep him warm like he was apparently doing throughout the night. He moved to sit up on the bed, stretching out his sore and stiff joints. His were feet placed firmly on the cold hardwood floors of the old bed and breakfast, and he tried to comprehend everything that’s been happening the past few days, maybe even the past few months.

Had he been sure that the love he once felt burning so bright for Hannibal had died out? It’s natural for something like that to happen in marriages, isn’t it? He always figured he and Hannibal were something different. He always believed so passionately that he and Hannibal hadn’t been the average marriage, until lately that is, until the passing of Abigail.

He stared at the dresser that was across the room, decorated with cheap fake plastic plants that weren't tasteful at all; he always did prefer Hannibal’s taste for interior design than most. It was still cold, but Will couldn’t bring him to crawl back under the comfort of the warm blankets. There was so much to think about, thinking that he feels he hasn't done at all.

His phone gave a _ping_ , and he reached to read the messages he’d received over the night. He couldn’t bring himself to respond to Matthew just yet, to respond to any of the messages yet except for the one that Mischa had sent him asking for an update on their situation.

They were supposed to be back to the cabin with the items that Murasaki had asked them to pick up for Uncle Robert, but the snow storm was completely unexpected and Will wasn’t sure how long they’d be stuck here, hopefully no longer than today. He didn’t look towards the door when it opened, he knew it was Hannibal.

A plastic bag was placed on the bed, “I’ve brought breakfast, and we should be able to get back to the others by noon today. Take whatever time you need to eat, I’m going to speak to the manager,”

Will nodded to him, “Thank you,”

Hannibal was gone from the room once more, and silence took over. Will looked down at the bag, he didn’t want to eat. He doesn’t think he wanted to go through the effort of trying to stomach it right now. Last night he felt safe, in the arms of his husband, and that hadn't been something he felt in a very, very long time. But he almost wishes it never happened, even if he felt comfort in it, even if he felt _right_.

He thought back to his and Hannibal’s conflict on the drive down here, and all of it only frustrated him. Everything about their messed up marriage pissed him off because he knew it was his fault. No matter how much Hannibal would’ve assured him that it wasn’t, he was the cause for everything. He always was.

He took this time to grab a shower and clean himself up a bit, he didn’t want to look in the mirror. He knew whatever looked back wouldn’t please him. He wanted to be angry at Hannibal, forever. He didn’t want to be angry with himself.  He thinks he deserves better, he deserves better than what God had delivered him to this life.

When he agreed to come out here for one final trip with Hannibal to visit the family for the Holiday, he couldn’t be sure if he did it for himself, for Mischa and the others, or for Hannibal. Traditions can become like habits, and maybe that’s what all of this was to Will. A habit.

The shower was warm and he didn’t want to leave. He never wanted to leave because he didn’t know how much more of this trip he could face. Will has never enjoyed facing things, important things. This was just something he didn’t want to have to deal with, but he felt that it’s what he _owed_ regardless.

The journey back to the cabin was less mild than the journey down to town, but there were a few things he knew he needed to talk to Hannibal about. He cleared his throat in preparation, but Hannibal beat him to it, it seemed.

“I still mean what I said, Will. You do not need to finish the remainder of this trip if you feel you do not want to,”

“Hannibal…” Will began, sighing exasperatedly, “I told you that I wanted to.”

Silence fell, but not for entirely too long, “It was not right of me to force you into this, I realize now that it isn’t right for me to do a lot of the things that I do,”

Guilt settled quickly in the pit of Will’s gut. Hannibal was always the bigger man when it came to things like this. Always apologizing after fights even when it had been Will’s fault, always sacrificing his own dignity, maybe that’s another thing that aggravated Will so much. Hannibal did tend to let him walk all over him, and Will’s been taking advantage of that fact a bit too much lately, he's sure, “Just shut up, Hannibal, its fine honestly. I want to be here,”

And Hannibal did, for a time, “Can I ask for something without you getting upset with me, William?”

“I can’t exactly promise that,”

“Of course, I can’t exactly expect that, I suppose,” Hannibal assured him, before continuing with his question, “If Abigail were still here, were she able to see the state of us, what do you think she would think of us?”

It didn’t take much thought, “She would think we're a couple of idiots.”

 

 

“I was so worried about you, my poor darlings!” Murasaki said, pouting as she rushed up to greet her nephews, pulling them each close to her by cupping their faces and kissing their cheeks, “Will you look freezing, get in here and warm up child,”

“We survived the night, no need to be worried Aunt,” Hannibal chuckled and kissed her cheek in reply, “We come baring gifts, of course,”

Murasaki sighed in relief when Will handed her the bag filled with the items that she needed for Robert, “Thank you a million,”

“No need for thanks,” Will said, and then traveled into the living room where he found Mischa reading by the fire place, she glanced up from her book and smiled.

“There you are, I thought I was never going to see you again.” She teased, Will rolled his eyes playfully, “But I’m sure you and Hannibal planned it all along, the two of you are always looking for ways to escape and find _alone time_ ,”

Will moved closer to the fire, the warmth of it heating up his cheeks, “You’re not getting any of the details, you menace, so stop trying to find loopholes every chance you get,”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say big man... Oh, before I forget, a man called here asking for you…” Mischa began, hiding her skeptical expression with a mask of disinterest, “Mr. Brown, or something of the sort… Said you hadn’t responded to him in quite some time and he had been worried.”

Panic flooded him instantly, and he couldn’t fucking breathe because _Matthew_. Matthew fucking called? Why would Matthew call, where did he even manage to find the number to the cabin? He didn’t want to be angry, didn’t want to make Mischa any more suspicious than she already was, and he’s sure she was, because she was the exact same as her damn brother, “He’s a coworker, must be something going on with a case or something,”

“He said something along the lines of that, but wouldn’t Uncle Jack have called you for something like that?” she took a sip of the hot chocolate she had sitting beside her, “Anyway, doesn’t matter, just don’t neglect to reply to Mr. Brown, don’t need him worrying about you, do we now?”

“No, no of course not,” Will bit his lip and turned, “I’ll give him a call now,”

“Okay~” Mischa sang, and Will was escaping from the house and to the cold privacy that awaited him outside.

He was furious. He was hot and flustered even with the cold wind biting at his skin. Matthew had the fucking nerve to call Hannibal’s family, where did the kid even remotely think that was acceptable in the book of Things-That-Are-Acceptable when sleeping with a married man.

He held his phone to his ear, trying to think of a way to scold the other guy without having to get too loud or blow any covers, Matthew hadn’t answered though, and that only made Will even more frustrated.

_Fine_. He would let Matt play that game, but he wasn't getting away with such an immature act that easily.

He didn’t need Mischa to end up finding anything out that she didn’t _need_ to find out.

When he went back inside, he was greeted with Hannibal in the kitchen who was helping to prepare dinner with Murasaki. Robert made an appearance as Well, who seemed to be looking better than the days before. He pulled Will into a big and tight hug, “William my dear boy, how was the storm?”

“Robert, you’re looking better! And it was fine, I had my big bear of a husband to keep my warm through the night,” he winked at Hannibal, who gave a warm and welcoming smile. It almost made Will’s heart flutter…  He stomped on the urge almost immediately. This wasn’t real. None of this was real.

Later on in the evening, Will sent Matthew a message after showering, it wasn’t his usual pleasant kind of message that he usually sent to his _lover_ , but Will was still pissed that Matthew had been so damn stupid. When he joined the rest of the family downstairs, he could hear the sound of Christmas music and Mischa and Murasaki laughing.

He always loved hearing them laugh, it was almost angelic when their airy voices both meshed together, and it was _happy_ and uplifting. Will can’t remember a time when he was truly happy, as of late, and he has no idea how the two of them managed it so often. Perhaps they just weren’t plagued with the abundance of chemical imbalances as Will had been.

“William come join us~” Mischa squealed, and Will shook himself from his thoughts and did, “We’re taking pictures to add to the albums, we need some new ones of you and Hanni,”

“She tried to make me wear those God awful reindeer antlers again,” Hannibal muttered, placing more wood into the burning fire. Robert was sitting on one of the sofa’s watching his wife and niece dance together to the uplifting music, a camera in his hands as he snapped pictures. Will was caught off guard when Hannibal joined his side and pressed a kiss to his cheek, the flash of a camera making his vision get spotty, “But that doesn’t mean you can’t wear them,”

Will flushed with embarrassment as his husband placed the headband of antlers onto his head, his mop of curly hair falling out of place, “Hannibal no!”

“Come on darling, they always look so adorable on you,”

Pouting, Will allowed the headpiece to stay upon his head. He spent time with the family that night without any issues, it was nice to forget about everything and play pretend, a part of him even wished it hadn’t been _pretend_ at all.

 

 

When he an Hannibal were in bed for the night, lights off and silence maddening Will to death, he turned over on his side to stare at Hannibal where he’d been browsing the internet on the small tablet in his hands, “Aren’t you going to sleep?”

“I have a few emails to respond to,” he answered curtly.

Will sighed, checking his phone before setting it down on the bedside table for the night. There wasn’t any response from Matthew yet, “At least we don’t have to worry about having to _cuddle,_ ”

“If you want, we still may,” Hannibal suggested, and Will thought he heard a hint of teasing in the man’s tone.

“I’ll be alright tonight, I think, thanks for the tempting offer though,”

“Very well,” Will could tell something else was lingering on Hannibal’s lips.

He sat up, “Alright, whatever it is you want to talk about, let’s talk,”

It was probably the first time Will calmly initiating a conversation with Hannibal while they were together in bed. Hannibal set his tablet to the side to give his undivided attention to Will, “When we divorce,”

It made Will cringe, he wasn’t sure he liked too much how Hannibal was becoming more and more agreeable to the arrangement as the days passed, “Yes?”

“I was going to wait until Christmas, but I feel it’s something that doesn’t need to wait anymore, given that we will no longer be together after the New Year,” Will kept a hard expression, saying things like that himself hadn’t been a problem, but hearing Hannibal, it made it even more… it made it more of a sure thing. But Will was sure about this, wasn’t he? “I bought that house in Wolf Trap, and I want for you to take it,”

“You… Hannibal, what? No! Why didn’t you tell me about this before?” he wasn’t trying to get flustered and upset, but this wasn’t exactly the kind of bomb you drop on someone, “I thought we agreed not to get it, after Abigail… I thought… why did you do that,?”

A long sigh was the response he’d gotten, “I wanted for it to be a surprise, Abigail and I both did, but things happened, of course,”

“I can’t do that, Hannibal, I can’t accept that.” Will was shaking his head and when Hannibal reached to cup his face to hold him still, his eyes widened, he _couldn’t_ , “Hannibal, please don’t make me accept that,”

“It is a gift from me, to you, William. I have no use for it anymore, now that you’ll be leaving. I do not wish for it to go anywhere else but to you, so please accept my gift to you in full,”

“You stupid man, you stupid _stupid idiotic prideful man_ , how could you?” Will’s voice was trembling, a mere whisper, he doesn’t think he could bring himself to raise his voice, “I am a terrible person, Hannibal, and I refuse to accept it. I _won’t_ ,”

“People are capable of doing terrible things, love, but that does not make them terrible people,”

“I’ve cheated on you, I’ve fucked a man behind your back and I’ve been nothing but horrible to you, and I can guarantee I’ll continue to be horrible to you even more now. I still have a conscience, Hannibal, and right now it’s screaming at me that this is something I can not do,”

“We have both not been the exact ideal workings of what a husband should be, but this is not something that is negotiable. The home will be put in your name. I have no use for it, and I ask that you do this if not for you, then for Abigail and I,”

Will pulled away from his husband, squeezing his eyes shut and hanging his head as he brought a hand up to press into his closed eyes as an attempt to keep anything that might spill from them coming out, “I hate you, Hannibal, I hate you, I hate you, and I hate me,”  
  
There had been a few moments of nothing, and then,

“Come here.” It wasn’t a request, and Will knew that, but he felt so frozen to where he was sitting on the bed that he couldn’t dare bring himself to move just yet, “William. Come,”

Eventually, letting out a small whine, he moved over to his husband who wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close to his side, his other hand moving to cup Will’s chin, “Darling boy, you are so beautiful when you cry but that doesn’t stop it from hurting me to watch you do so,”

“You’re stupid,” was all Will could muster anymore, he couldn’t fathom finding any other words, it would take too much effort to do so, “After everything, you just do this. It’s selfish of you,”

“Shhh,” Hannibal hushed, “I have done many selfish things, but this is something I am doing for _you,_ not for me. You have the rest of the trip to think about it, but perhaps maybe now you should get some rest, Mischa has a big day planned for us tomorrow,”

“Hannibal… how am I supposed to sleep after this?” Will asked him earnestly, blinking away the threatening tears and shifting to look up at the taller man, “How am I supposed to sleep ever again, knowing this?”

“It’s not something I wish for you to feel any guilt over, and you do not have to repay me in anyway. I’ll repeat myself again, William, this is a _gift_. A gift I am giving to my husband,”

Will couldn’t stop himself from staring, _this_ was the man he thought hadn’t existed anymore, sitting right in front of him. He knew it wasn’t something that was going to last, he knew this was probably the last time he would be given the honor of seeing Hannibal like this, like this to _him_ , “What happened to us Hannibal?”

“I am uncertain, Will,”

“Why couldn’t we fix this… why wasn’t this fixable? Every damn thing else is fixable, but why not us?”

“Things change, sometimes they do not change for the better, and sometimes they change for the worse. We do not control our fate, we must accept what we are given and move on,”

It hurt. It ached. It absolutely pained every bone in Will’s body to hear Hannibal say those things; he never wanted to hear them ever again. He wanted to erase all of them from his being, “I loved you Hannibal, please don’t ever think that I hadn’t, don’t ever think that we… that I… what we had before, it was…”

Hannibal leaned down and pressed his lips softly to Will’s. The younger man’s eyes widened at first contact, but eventually, mixed emotions of everything came flooding back like a tidal wave and he press himself as close as he could, tilting his head to deepen the kiss. It was almost desperate, the way they’d kissed each other… but as their marriage had been proof of, good things come to and end.

“No.” Will said quickly as he jerked himself away from Hannibal, “No,” he held his hand up to Hannibal’s chest then, “We… I need… this can’t happen, Hannibal. I can’t do this,”

“William—“

“Just stop it, Hannibal!” he snapped loudly, and threw the covers from his body and stood from the bed, “I’m sorry, but I can’t accept that house. I can’t… I’m going to sleep downstairs, I’ll see you in the morning. You should probably get some sleep, like you said, Mischa has a big day planned for us tomorrow,”

Hannibal hadn’t said anything more, simply watched as Will grabbed his phone and a pillow and left the room without another word.

Neither of them slept that night.


End file.
